Just my luck… I took my armour out for the first time and run into one of those yahoos.

As I left the warehouse, I looked my adversary over, he was slightly taller than I was in my armour and looked like a mix of quarterback and mixed-martial artist, muscular but not muscle-bound. There was little more for me to tell, he had no weapons visible, just the usual, red-blue uniform of the Hero’s League. His voice was slightly distorted, preventing a casual identification. Purely from his looks, I’d place a bet that he was one of those annoying Atlas-Powerset guys.

Officially, one of the league’s missions was to ‘promote the registration of Powered humans’ so those with powers were able to help in times of crisis. The reality was that they tried to snatch up anyone who showed powers and was not on their approved-list. Obviously, I was not on the list and while I was not outwardly showing signs of personal power, my armour was clearly not from some mail-order shop.

Without answering, I shot forward, trusting my armoured up strength to decide this battle. I felt the gel cushion me against the acceleration as I attacked with a simple, straight punch, boosted by various servos in the armour. It was a great punch, strong, fast and sadly, easily dodged. The wall behind my opponent did not dodge and crumbled into a cloud of dust.

“Well, I guess you won’t come quietly. Should be entertaining.” I heard the guy chuckling behind me as he popped his knuckles. I spun, trying to backhand the approaching hero but again, I was dodged. His chuckling increased as he danced back and forth, moving out of my range and back in, baiting me into another attack. I settled back a little, waiting for him to attack so I could counter. I had armour, I could probably simply take his punch and retaliate.

He didn’t keep me in suspense for long, after baiting me a few times, he stepped in and threw a hook at my mid-section. I simply ignored his hook and struck from the side, trying to smash him into next week. Again, I found myself flying through the air and a short replay from Galatea showed me that he had feinted and turned his hook into a grip on my arm, using his momentum and mine together to throw me through the next wall.

My suit integrity was still at a hundred percent, not even a scratch marred the scales.

We battled back and forth for some time, or rather, he smashed and threw me around for some time, not getting anywhere as my armour was simply too strong for him. I felt myself sweat a bit but the main work was done by my armour, not my body. I could fight on for quite some time. I could simply use him as a trainings-dummy, correcting my mistakes and getting good data against a life enemy. ‘What better way to get the needed data’, I thought with a smirk.

Finally, I managed to get a solid hit, smacking him through one of the walls. Our battle had moved us through multiple abandoned warehouses but as of yet, none of them had collapsed due to our fight. Well, the fight was not over, there were still chances.

I felt good about finally getting a hit in, not only getting smacked around like a punching-bag and his dishevelled appearance made me giddy inside. Until he shook his head like a dog, wiped off the blood and looked at me with hatred in his eyes.

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“I guess I’ll have to take you serious. I will enjoy breaking you.” The smirk he had on his face until now had turned into an ugly sneer. His style changed, until now his style had been light, almost playful, but now his style turned ruthless and utterly brutal. He took any opening he could find, never letting up, directly targeting the joints of my armour, trying to break either my servos or me, directly. His change in style paid off, after a few hits, I saw problems start, while the scales were fine, they were unable to fully prevent the attacks from damaging the servos below. They were not broken yet, but the damage kept mounting, reducing my strength and maneuverability, allowing my opponent to deal even more damage.

It wasn’t fast but I was losing, steadily and unavoidably. I tried fighting back, any way I could, strikes, kicks, even trying to use the speakers in my helmet as sonic weapons, nothing worked. I was thrown and smashed around like a ragdoll.

The next time, I was thrown into one of the warehouses, I tried to get away. Before, I had relished the chance to train against a real enemy but now, it had turned from ‘the fool can’t hurt me’ into ‘shit, if that goes on, I’ll be screwed’. I was not gaining anything from the fight so retreat was not only an option, it was the best course of action.

With the light-absorbing properties of my armour, I believed it easy to sneak away in the dark warehouse. Sadly, sneaking with hundred-thirty kilogram of armour is not that easy, even if it’s powered. After a few moments, he must have realised that I was not coming back out and he came after me, quickly found me and smashed me through the next wall.

“You know, it’s a little pathetic to get bounced around like that.” I heard a new voice.

Following it, I saw a small figure sitting on the warehouse I was lying against. She, the figure looked obviously female, was clad in a black costume, complete with a hood and mask, completely hiding her face from sight.

She slid from the roof, lightly landing in front of me. Now I could see that she was not only small, she was tiny. “You are lucky that I’m looking for a little fun tonight. And Captain Jackass in there is just the kind of fun I want to get into. So scurry away tincan, people with real powers are playing here.” she said, with an annoying smirk audible in her voice. I could just imagine that arrogant smirk, no matter what she actually looked like. I knew her smirk.

But sometimes, beggars can’t be choosers.

If I didn’t get away now, while she brawled with my opponent, I would be caught. My armour was only working at maybe fifty percent capacity and the damage was mainly located at the arms. Without another word, I forced myself up and started my inglorious retreat.

“Hello, hello, hello, what do we have here, Captain Jackass himself and I can feed you a knuckle-sandwich.” I heard the female shout behind me, amusement and arrogance thick in her voice.

“It’s you bitch. Where is the stupid tincan, I wanted to bring it in for registration?!” I heard my former opponent.

As I got further and further away, I heard their battle commence, breaking walls, loud smacks, the whole shebang. I could not directly retreat to my lair, I had to lay a few false trails. Using the sewer-system, I was able to move a little underground, getting closer to the river, then using the river for another false trail before finally getting back to the forest and moving up the hillside.

It was far too late for my taste when I made it back to my hideout. Doffing the armour was annoyingly hard, the damage was extensive enough to hinder me. But I knew one thing. Never again would I go out that unprepared. I believed I could fight in the armour, that it was enough to go to toe with an opponent. Tonight, had shown me the reality. I needed more, more strength, better tools, better technique. My defense was adequate for enemies on his caliber but everything else? Back to the drawing board.

In addition, I had accrued two debts tonight. One day, I would have to even both out. One saving, one beat-down. The scales would have to be balanced. One day.

I made my way home, with a belly full of fire, while I was not hurt, my armour had taken a beating and the way home had made it rather filthy. When I finally got home, I cursed the whole evening for a car was in the driveway. Small mercys, it was not my father. It was business barbie and I would have to think fast for a reason for being out that late.

God, that day had sucked.

‘Beware the Ides of March.’

Never again, would I ignore that ancient wisdom. never again.